Suki: A Like Story
Suki: A Like Story (すき。だからすき Suki: Dakara Suki) is a three volume manga series by CLAMP. It was published by Kadokawa Shoten in Mystery DX somewhat sporadically between 1999 and 2000. The Japanese title literally means "I like you, therefore I like you." It is notable for using an art style not used in any other CLAMP series. It was published in English by Tokyopop in 2004 as Suki: A Like Story, but the license has since expired. Plot Suki follows the story of Hinata Asahi, also known as Hina, a child-like teenager who loves teddy bears. She lives alone in her house and early in the story, her new homeroom teacher moves into the empty house next door. Shirou Asou, her new teacher, becomes her first crush and he seems to take an interest in her as well. However, this simple love story grows complicated as Shirou's interest in Hina is put into question as more sinister elements are placed in the story, all while forcing Hinata to grow up at the same time. Characters Hinata Asahi Although her full name is Hinata, she likes people to call her Hina. Sixteen-year-old Hina gets excellent grades, but is still very naïve and sees the world with child-like wonder and innocence. Hina chooses to live on her own, with two teddy bears named Waka and Tono and her new-found friend, a cat. She wants to live on her own to accommodate her father's hectic schedule. Her father is the chairman of the school and he also owns many businesses. He hires Shirou Asou, a bodyguard, to protect her from another kidnapping attempt (she had been kidnapped nine times before). Because her father always pays the ransom, no matter how large, Hina has been kidnapped many times. She later develops deeper feelings toward Shirou. Shirou Asou Seemingly cold and unfeeling, thirty-two year-old Shirou moves into the unoccupied house next door to Hina's, and is also her new substitute teacher. He is actually hired by Hina's father to protect her from another kidnapping. Oblivious to Hina's feelings of love, he (at first) seems to think of Hina as merely another job. He later recognizes her feelings, but he rejects them. He had fallen in love with a client before, but he always feels a pang of guilt whenever he thinks about her. The woman he had fallen in love with before, threw herself into the path of a bullet, sparing his life. Although she survived the wound, she was a diplomatic guest, and later returned to her home country and married. Touko Shinohara Hina's best and life long friend, Touko is always looking out for the girl. Touko also is very suspicious about Asou. Many boys like her. Emi Kishitani ''' Emi is another friend of Hina's. Opinionated and loud-mouthed, she never gives up the chance to explain how childish and naïve Hina is. Emi's father borrowed a lot of money from Yakuza loansharks and he doesn't have any to repay them. Emi concocts a scheme to help her father kidnap Hina for the ransom that Hina's father is guaranteed to pay. After she is rescued by Shirou, Hina, in her loyalty and naïvete, forgives her and asks her father to loan Emi's family the money that they need. Emi is ashamed of what she's done and is grateful for Hina's forgiveness. '''Tomoaki Namiya A famous twenty-one year-old writer, Hina refers to Tomoaki as Tomo-kun, a name that he hasn't been called in at least ten years. Curiously enough, the genres he writes in are erotica and children's books. Tomo is the writer of Hina's favorite series of children's books, all featuring bears. Like Hina, Tomo is very carefree and sometimes hard to handle. He has also hired a bodyguard to protect him. Later in the story, Tomo writes a series of books that mirror the lives of Hina and Shirou, much like in Chobits, another work by Clamp. The title of this work is Suki. Masaya Kizu Kizu is a colleague of Shirou, both having worked with the Secret Police. Now employed as Tomo's bodyguard, for reasons unexplained in the book, though it was implied that the circumstances are similar to Hina's. Category:Manga